There is known from WO 2006/132618 a tabletop napkin dispenser that is intended to be stood on a rear face so that a front face including a dispensing opening faces upwards. The dispenser has side faces connecting the front and rear faces of a height such that the dispenser is able to accommodate a stack of about 200 napkins. As such, the height dimension of the napkin dispenser is less than a length direction of a footprint of the dispenser. There is also known from WO 2005/107548 a dispenser able to hold a stack of about 450 napkins, whereby the height dimension from a rear face to an opposing front face including the dispensing opening is greater than a length dimension of the front and rear faces. The dispenser of WO '548 is intended to be laid on its side, specifically on a side face of largest area so that, unlike the device of WO '618, it does not stand on its rear face. The dispenser of WO '618 dispenses vertically, while the dispenser of WO '548 dispenses horizontally. In the following, we will refer to these two types of dispenser as a vertically dispensing tabletop dispenser and a horizontally dispensing tabletop dispenser, respectively.
The vertically dispensing device of WO '618 is made of a base element forming the rear face, a sleeve element forming the side faces of the dispenser and a lid mounted to the sleeve by a hinge. The base element includes upstanding side wall members, two of which cooperate with the sleeve to define a paper thin cavity that is open at a top end for receipt of, e.g., advertising material. The sleeve is thus transparent so that the advertising material can be viewed through it. The other two upstanding side wall members form a catch mechanism with the lid for holding the lid in a closed position.
The base element and the sleeve element clip together on all four sides at the base end of the sleeve. Manufacturing considerations for the device of WO '618 mean that the base element and the sleeve are required to be fairly square, whereas a more rounded shape could be aesthetically preferable.
The lid of the vertically dispensing device of WO '618 is openable and closeable about the hinge. In the open position, a napkin reservoir is accessible for refilling. In the closed position of the lid, the refill access is substantially closed by the lid so that the napkins have to be removed through the dispensing opening defined in the lid. The lid is held in the closed position by resilient catch members extending upwardly from the upstanding side wall members of the base element to engage on corresponding catch members formed inside the lid. A platform fits in the space defined by the sleeve and the side wall members upon which the stack rests. The platform is biased by a spring to the dispensing opening.
To release the catches, the side wall members of the base element have to be pushed inwardly through an archway provided in the sleeve member. Further, when the platform is at an uppermost position adjacent the dispensing opening, which occurs when the stack is low or entirely used up, the platform tends, due to close tolerances, to obstruct inward depression of the upstanding side wall members and the associated catch members. It is desirable to provide an easier to open lid member, once the user knows the knack of doing so.
The upstanding side wall members partly defining the advertising cavity include a thumb sized cut out from an otherwise rectangular member to allow the advertising material to be removed and, perhaps, replaced. The advertising material is thus required to be of a specific size, encouraging the use of a template format for designing the advertising material. It has been found that a more flexible system could be desirable.
In the horizontally dispensing napkin dispenser of WO '548, there is also provided a sleeve member that defines a housing of the dispenser and also defines an internal product reservoir. The sleeve member is clipped to a base member. The sleeve member, and thus an outer appearance of the dispenser, is restricted to being relatively square shaped because of manufacturing considerations, while it has been found that consumers may prefer a more rounded appearance.
The sleeve member defines guide channels that receive guide rails of a drawer. The drawer is guided between a retracted and closed position with respect to the sleeve and an extended position for refilling the drawer with napkins. A front face of the drawer defines a front face of the dispenser and includes a dispensing opening. The drawer is held closed in the retracted position by a catch mechanism. The drawer defines a tray with upstanding side and rear walls for receiving the stack of napkins. A transverse panel translatably mounted in the drawer is provided to bias the stack toward the dispensing opening. It has been found that the biasing configuration disclosed in WO '548 can in some uses allow the napkins to fall away from the dispensing opening as the stack nears a fully depleted state. It has been found that a more consistent biasing configuration could be useful in some instances.
The dispenser of WO '548 has been designed purely for horizontal dispensing. It has been found that a dispenser of this kind, with a drawer and a relatively large napkin capacity, that can also dispense vertically would be desirable.
It is desired to overcome the above identified problems or resolve the above identified desirable features.